Separable interlocking fastener



June 8, 1937. 5 sum; 2,083,278

SEPARABLE INTERLOCKING FASTENER Filed Aug. 11, 1933 10 INVENITOR. Harry E. Sipe BY A RNEYS.

Patented June 8, 1937 2,083,278 I I SEPARABLE INTERLOCKING FASTENER Harry E. Sipe, New York, N. Y., assignor to Hookless Fastener p'ompany, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 11, 1933, Serial No. 684,701 6 Claims. ((124-205) My invention relates to separable interlocking fasteners of the type having flexible supports and cooperating series of fastener elements uniformly spaced along the edges of said supports, said elements being brought rapidly into engagement or disengagement by means of a slider.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, cheap and neat construction for such separable fasteners which can readily be manu- 10 factured from suitable material.

Another object is to provide a fastener of the above type where the interlocking means is at one side so that the edges of the flexible supports can be brought into contacting relation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown for purposes of illustration one embodiment which my invention may assume in'practice. In

' this drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a fastener made accord- 7 ing to my invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section through the fastener; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing an individual fastener element.

Th flexible supports are preferably of fabric tapes such as indicated at l and which have beaded edges 5. The fastener elements 6 are arranged along the beaded edges in uniformly and accurately spaced relation and are brought into engagement and disengagement by the slider l which is conveniently operated by a pull tab 8.

Referring to Fig. 3, in one desirable embodiment the fastener elements are made from round wires bent upon themselves to provide an attaching portion 9 at the bend and a pair of hooklike projections ID at the ends. These wires extend through the tapes 4 just back of the beaded 4 edges 5 and the ends extend far enough to overlap the edge of the opposing tape, thus preventing transverse disengagement. The hook-like projections all being similarly formed will interlock readily when they are brought into intermeshing relation, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The interlocking parts are arranged on opposite sides of the plane of the tapes so that the edges of the tapes can be brought into contacting relation as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. For some purposes .where no great strain is placed upon the fastener,

the interlocking hooks on one side can be dispensed with, and the single series of hooks will hold the fastener together and prevent separation both laterally and transversely. While I have shown and described in this application one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this embodiment is merely for the purposes of illustration and description and that other forms may be devised within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A separable interlocking fastener comprising a pair of flexible supports having cooperating series of fastener elements thereon, each element comprising a wire bent upon itself and connected at the bend to the edge of a stringer, the ends of said wire extending outwardly beyond its flexible support and engaging on opposite sides of the other flexible support and having interlocking means adapted to interlock with the 'fastener members on the opposing stringer.

2. A separable fastener of the class described, comprising a pair of flexible supports, cooperating series of fastener elements uniformly spaced along the edges of said supports, each of said elements formed from wire having a portion extending through the support back of the edge and having interlocking portions extended forwardly on the opposite sides of the support and adapted to interlock with similar portions of an opposite element to prevent lateral separation, and the portions of each element which extend beyond the edge of its support being spaced apart so as to embrace the edge of the other support to prevent transverse disengagement.

3. A separable interlocking fastener comprising a pair of flexible supports .having cooperating series of fastener elements thereon, each element formed from wire having a portion extending through the tape back of its edge and having its ends bent to extend forwardly to constitute arms spaced apart on opposite sides of the plane of the stringers, said arms being bent into hook-like form so as tointerlock with similar fastener members on the opposing stringer, said arms being of such length that the edges of the supports are held together in edge to edge contact when the fastener is interlocked.

4. A separable interlocking fastener as defined in claim 1 wherein said interlocking means comprises a hook-like projection in at least one of the ends of the wire formed by bending said end of the wire.

5. A separable interlocking fastener comprising a pair of flexible tapes having cooperating series of fastener elements thereon, each of said elements having attaching means engaging the tape back of its edge and having portions extending beyond the edge of the tape and said PATENT OFFICE tions extending beyond the edge of the tape, said portions being spaced from each other throughout their length a distance at least as great as the thickness of the edge portions of the tapes whereby such projecting portions may extend astride the edge of the opposite tape and between a pair of fastener elements on such opposite tape, said extending portions having means interlocking with the opposing fastener elements to prevent lateral separation of the fastener.

HARRY E. 81:91:. 

